There have already been hearing devices on the market where the user can manually select a hearing program that is tailored to a specific acoustic surround situation. The selection can either be performed via a switch at the hearing device or via a remote control. There also exist hearing devices capable of automatically recognizing the momentary acoustic surround situation. In this connection, reference is made to the European patents EP-B1-0 732 036 and EP-A1-0 814 636 as well as to U.S. Pat. No. 6,910,013 B2.
In particular, the teaching of U.S. Pat. No. 6,910,013 B2 discloses a technique which is very reliable and has a high acceptance in the market. The known teaching makes use of statistical analysis of the momentary acoustic surround situation in that features are extracted in a first step, and classified in a subsequent step. In any event, the result of this known technique is the selection of the most suitable hearing program being fully activated.
In some cases however, the hearing device user does not want to be disturbed by an acoustic stimulation. Under such circumstances, the hearing device user very often removes the hearing device, or switches off the hearing device in order to create a quiet atmosphere. In case someone wants to speak with the hearing device user, this is not possible via an acoustic signal because the hearing device user may not hear it. Furthermore, an emergency situation may not be recognized by the hearing device user once the hearing device is switched off or removed from the ear.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to overcome the above-mentioned drawback und to further improve the known techniques.